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Trump Campaign Gives Access To Far-Right Media But Shuns Mainstream Press

Trump Campaign Gives Access To Far-Right Media But Shuns Mainstream Press

Vanity Fair recently reported that several journalists from mainstream publications, including The Washington Post, NBC News, Axios, and Vanity Fair, were denied press access to Trump’s campaign events, seemingly in retaliation for their previous critical coverage. Meanwhile, Media Matters found that the campaign has granted press credentials to the QAnon-promoting MG Show and Brenden Dilley, a podcaster who has promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory and leads a “meme team” that creates pro-Trump content.

Washington Post reporter Isaac Arnsdorf has allegedly been barred from Trump’s campaign events since February, according to Vanity Fair, over his rejection of a campaign request to change the title of his book Finish What We Started: The MAGA Movement’s Ground War to End Democracy. Several other reporters also allegedly had press access revoked over critical coverage or public spats with campaign officials. Vanity Fair reported:

In recent weeks, the [Trump] campaign has taken similar punitive measures against other reporters, according to multiple sources familiar with the moves. An Axios reporter had their credentials approved for an event and then revoked the same day, following the publication of a story about the Trump-led Republican National Committee’s struggles in swing states. (An Axios spokesperson declined to comment.) At least one other Post reporter was temporarily denied press credentials to multiple events after accurately reporting on Trump’s public statements. Most recently, Brian Stelter, a special correspondent for Vanity Fair, was denied press access to Trump’s rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania.

While it has barred mainstream journalists, the campaign has granted press credentials to a QAnon-promoting show and a podcaster who creates pro-Trump content.

At least one host of the QAnon-promoting podcast MG Show was seemingly given a press pass for Trump’s December 17 campaign rally in Reno, Nevada. Days before the rally, co-host Shannon Townsend announced on the podcast that after seeking press passes for the rally, the show was granted the status of “accredited media with Donald Trump and the rally campaign.” Afterward, Townsend posted images from the rally, including one that appears to show him holding a press pass in a media area.

In response to reporter Brian Stelter posting on April 19, “I applied for press credentials for Trump's most recent rally in Schnecksville, Pennsylvania and was rejected,” Townsend shared an image of his credentials for the Nevada rally, and said, “I have mine.”

MG Show had previously received press credentials for a 2021 Trump rally in Sarasota, Florida, at which host Townsend wore a wristband with the QAnon slogan “where we go one, we go all” — or “WWG1WGA” for short — and led a crowd in chanting the slogan. The Trump campaign was forced to publicly distance itself from QAnon and MG Show after receiving backlash for credentialing the conspiracy theorists.

In January, Brenden Dilley, a podcaster who has previously promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory, bragged that he was given press credentials for the Trump campaign's Iowa caucus event.

Dilley has been the leader of a pro-Trump online “meme team” which calls itself “Trump’s Online War Machine,” and he has admitted that he “make[s] shit up” to further Trump’s agenda and hurt his political opponents. During an episode of his show, Dilley displayed the press pass, bragging that he got a “special” and “exclusive” press credential that got him into the “Trump War Room,” where he said “pretty much the entire Team Trump comes through.”

Barring mainstream journalists from campaign rallies and other events is hardly new for the Trump team. During his 2016 presidential campaign, Trump and his allies waged an all-out war on the press, including banning certain journalists from events, and attacking critical coverage and entire mainstream news outlets as “fake news.”

Trump's presidential term was also marked by repeated instances where mainstream journalists were barred from official events and press conferences over unflattering coverage and unwanted questions. And his reelection campaign also reportedly issued a blanket credential denial against Bloomberg News over the outlet’s perceived “bias” against him.

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.

Bob Good (R-VA)

As House Colleagues Seek His Ouster, Bob Good Endorses January 6 Rioter

Amid GOP House members' efforts to campaign against House Freedom Caucus Chair Bob Good (R-VA), the far-right leader has officially endorsed a January 6 rioter for United States Congress, according to Axios.

Per the report, "Good said in a statement he is supporting former West Virginia legislator Derrick Evans, who was sentenced three months in prison for his role in the Jan. 6 attack, over Rep. Carol Miller (R-W.Va.)."

The GOP lawmaker said, "It is my privilege to endorse Derrick Evans for Congress in West Virginia's first congressional district. We cannot change Washington and save the country by electing the status quo."


Good's endorsement comes as the far-right leader has been ostracized by a group of fellow Republican House members campaigning for his primary opponent, State Senator John McGuire (R-VA).

Last month the hard-right legislator called that group of GOP leaders "RINOs" — Republicans in name only — via social media, and told CNN last week that he remains unmoved by their efforts.

Calling Good "embarrassing," McGuire told CNN in an interview, "I believe that my opponent wants to burn it all down, no solutions kind of guy I think that we need leaders that want to grow the party and unite our country. If you are helping the Democrat team take out the Republican team, who is the RINO?"

According to Axios "Good, the only member of Congress to endorse Evans, joins former National Security Advisor Michael Flynn and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell – both known for their pro-Trump conspiracy theories."

Axios also notes, "Evans has run hard to Miller's right, saying in a statement: 'Either you stand with MAGA and the America First movement, or you're with Carol Miller and Bill Gates, abortion, killing coal, and funding transgender surgeries.'"

Axios' full report is available here.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Mike Lindell

Lindell's Financial Woes Lead To My Pillow Eviction From Warehouse

At a time when he's struggling with major legal bills, far-right conspiracy theorist and MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell has received some more bad news. MyPillow, according to The New Republic's Ellie Quinlan Houghtaling, is being evicted from a warehouse it has been renting in Shakopee, Minnesota.

The eviction, Houghtaling reports, is the result of MyPillow's failure to pay $217,000 in rent for one of two warehouses. The property is owned by the company First Industrial, whose attorney, Sara Filo, appeared during a courtroom hearing on Tuesday, March 26.

Filo told the court, "MyPillow has more or less vacated, but we'd like to do this by the book. At this point, there's a representation that no further payment is going to be made under this lease, so we'd like to go ahead with finding a new tenant."

Many of Lindell's financial and legal problems stem from his efforts to help former President Donald Trump overturn the 2020 election results.

Lindell claimed, without evidence, that Dominion Voting Systems and its competitor Smartmatic — both providers of voting equipment — helped now-President Joe Biden steal the election from Trump. And those companies have sued Lindell for defamation.

Lindell's legal bills are also the result of his "Prove Mike Wrong" challenge of 2021.

That year, at this "Cyber Symposium" event in South Dakota, Lindell offered to pay $5 million to anyone who could disprove his claim that Chinese government officials helped Biden steal the election. Software developer and computer forensics expert Robert Zeidman accepted the challenge and went about debunking Lindell's claim.

According to Zeidman, Lindell now owes him $5 million. The MyPillow CEO has tried to get out of paying him, but U.S. District Judge John R. Tunheim upheld Zeidman's victory as perfectly legitimate in a February 21 ruling and agreed that Lindell needs to pay him the money owed.

Lindell, however, has maintained that Trump really won the 2020 election and that Zeidman didn't disprove his conspiracy theory involving Chinese officials.

Houghtaling notes, "The beleaguered conspiracy theorist has, all in all, been struggling with cash flow for some time. Earlier this month, Lindell joined Steve Bannon's podcast to advertise a new Arizona lawsuit he underwrote for Kari Lake — and to ask if listeners would be willing to spare some change to help him out.

Reprinted with permission from Alternet.

Candace Owens

Far-Right 'Daily Wire' Finally Dumps Raving Antisemite Candace Owens

On March 22, The Daily Wire co-founder Jeremy Boreing announced, “Daily Wire and Candace Owens have ended their relationship.” The announcement follows Candace Owens’ escalating antisemitic rhetoric. Just days ago, Holocaust-denying antisemite Nick Fuentes said Owens “has been in a full-fledged war against the Jews.”

Last November, Owens and Daily Wire co-founder, Ben Shapiro, engaged in a very public fight over Israel’s war against Hamas. Despite growing tensions, Owens claimed just before being let go by her employer that Shapiro “doesn’t have the power to fire” her.

It’s not surprising that Owens would eventually become embroiled in a scandal over her antisemitism. In 2019, she said, “If Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well, OK, fine.” The Daily Wire still decided to hire her the following year, and since then, she has consistently pushed conspiracy theories and hateful rhetoric at the increasingly extreme platform.

  • Antisemitism
    • Owens “liked” a post on X (formerly Twitter) that asked a rabbi she has been feuding with whether he is “drunk on Christian blood again.” [Mediaite, 3/18/24]
    • Owens warned that “Jews are going to be blamed” if TikTok is banned. [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 3/14/24]
    • Owens suggested that there is a Jewish “gang” in Hollywood committing “horrific things” on people. [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 3/8/24]
    • Owens lambasted “D.C. Jew[s]” and told Jewish people there is a “rot” in their community. [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 2/14/24]
    • Owen defended Ye (formerly Kanye West) against accusations of antisemitism. Rapper Ye posted on Twitter in 2022, “I’m going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE.” Owens later took to her show to defend the rapper, saying, “If you are an honest person, you did not think this tweet was antisemitic.” [Mediaite, 10/10/22; The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 10/10/22]
  • Conspiracy theories
    • Owens pushed speculation that the first lady of France, Brigitte Macron, is a transgender woman. [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 3/11/24]
    • Owens claimed that Hollywood “was created by the CIA.” [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 2/1/24]
    • Owens said she likes conspiracy theories “because I view them as mind yoga.” [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 2/14/23]
    • Owens suggested that Bill Gates is using mosquitoes to make people allergic to beef. [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 9/22/22]
    • On Fox News, Owens said that the January 6 insurrection was “the Reichstag fire happening all over again in America.” [Fox News, Tucker Carlson Tonight, 4/6/21]
    • On Fox News, Owens compared vaccine outreach programs to “a child predator” and “Hitler youth programs.” [Fox News, Primetime, 11/5/21]
    • Owens said she would rather die of COVID than take the COVID vaccine. Responding to rumors that she was vaccinated, Owens said: “I am not getting this vaccine. Ever! Never going to get it. I don’t care if I’m on my deathbed and they say it can save you, I’m not going to get it. I’m principally now opposed to it, and I do not understand why anyone who is healthy, able-bodied and young would ever get this vaccine if you’re not at risk of COVID.” [Mediaite, 1/5/22]
    • Owens baselessly suggested actor Bob Saget may have died from the COVID-19 vaccine. [The Daily Wire, Candace, 1/11/22]
  • Anti-LGBTQ rhetoric
    • Owens called surrogacy a denial of women’s rights and “an industry for the LGBTQ community.” [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 1/10/24]
    • Owens said the existence of trans people is “worse than Jim Crow laws.” [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 4/6/23]
    • Owens declared, “The trans agenda is demonic.” [The Daily Wire, Candace Owens, 2/7/23]
    • Owens called for the state to take away children from parents of trans kids and parents who take their child to drag queen story hour. [The Daily Wire, Candace, 6/15/22]
    • Owens said, “There are freaks, predators, and pedophiles that are all hiding under the LGBT flag.” [The Daily Wire, Candace, 4/26/22]
    • Owens slandered LGBTQ teachers saying, “Pedophilia is around the corner.” [The Daily Wire, Candace, 4/5/22]

Reprinted with permission from Media Matters.